Elephants raid crops in villages, locals blame departmental apathy

The incidents of elephants raiding farms in Dhanori village area are not waning. On Saturday midnight the elephants raided the mature crops of sugarcane and potato fields in Dhanori village and damaged several hectares of crops. The sugarcane which is ready to be harvested and bundles of crop lying at most of the farmlands these days is a major attraction for the pachyderms. They smell the sugarcane from a distance and reach the area to feast. The villagers allege that the lackdiasical attitude of the forest department officials is causing the problem.

Farmers with small land holdings living on the boundary villages of Rajaji Tiger Reserve have struggled in these past few years fighting for their safety from the elephants that regularly visit the areas and destroy their crops. The pachyderms visiting them quite often in search of food consume their crops. During early morning hours of Sunday, the herd of elephants entered the Dhanori village and destroyed mature crops of former village Pradhan Ramlal. The villagers alleged that the forest officials are not doing night patrolling and there is not enough lighting on the boundaries of RTR and Haridwar forest division which makes the work of elephants easier.

Speaking to The Pioneer, Gram Pradhan Pyare Lal said, “The elephants are consistently raiding our fields. We and our crops are totally insecure. Almost every day, the elephants come and raid the fields of Misserpur, Kurkawala, Bandarpur, Majahidpur, Teliwala and Pherupur villages.”

It is also alleged by the farmers that the forest guards are not doing night patrolling. “The patrolling done by forest guards is not regular which is resulting in the rampant movement of the wild animals in the region. Also the fencing light installed on all sides of the farming areas is defunct. It demands repair and replacement of fused lights,” said the former Gram Pradhan.

When asked, the forest ranger of Haridwar range Ajay Sharma said, “The forest team is regularly patrolling the forest beats. We have written to the higher officials and the fencing problem will be fixed soon. Barbed wire has already been placed at most of the forest boundaries lying close to residential areas.” Read more posts…